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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 497889" data-attributes="member: 143">Tried a few times over the holiday weekend to get this up, but either I couldn't log on, or couldn't post when I finally did get on.  Anyway, here's an update of what our band of heroes has been up to since the end of book 6.* * * * *Book VII, Part 4 Journal Entry28 Tarsakh, 1374 DalereckoningIt has been a long time since I have last written an entry here.  Alera suggested... no, insisted would be a better word, I think—that I write again, to explore some of the feelings that have troubled me since... since Undermountain.  I thought I had kept my thoughts from showing on my face, but Alera has always had the ability to see beneath the surface.  Even on the day that we returned, she never blamed me for what happened to Pelanther—for Pel’s death.  I wish that I could dismiss the lingering guilt that torments me as well.  I know, in an intellectual sense, that there was nothing that I could have done differently, that we had all willingly embarked upon our mission with full knowledge of the risks.  But that realization doesn’t make it any easier at night, when the dark thoughts come.  And the dreams.We placed Nelan in the custody of the church of Oghma, and there he remains, a full month later.  The high priest offers optimistic assessments when we visit, but the truth is written so plainly in his eyes that it is almost painful to hear them.  Perhaps Nelan will someday recover.  If in fact the being that we brought back from Undermountain is Nelan, bears some small part of who he is, and is not merely a shell crafted by the fell power of the deepspawn.  Alera refuses to give up hope, however, and so I will add my prayers to her own.  Dana and I have both been hard at work tracing clues to help her decipher what she learned in her commune with her goddess.  Ah, Dana.  We were quite surprised when we ran into her as we were returning to the shaft at the Yawning Portal, but in hindsight, the idea of her braving the deadly dangers of Undermountain alone is not at all farfetched.  She is brave, and more powerful now than ever, and yet at her heart is the same woman that we rescued from the clutches of those hobgoblin brigands not so long ago.  I still smile when I think of the way she and Benzan came together when they first saw each other, and in the last month it has seemed to me that while Dana’s inner wounds have not fully healed, she is more at peace with herself than I have seen in a long time.  And Benzan seems better, too; that pleases me as well, for I was worried about him after what happened in Undermountain.  For good or for ill, though, the irreverent, wise-cracking, and smart-assed fellow that we all know and love has returned in full force.  Dana has taken some of the sharper edges off him, and for all that he pretends to protest at the loss of his “freedom,” I believe that he is more genuinely happy now than I have ever seen him.  I wish them both the very best.Lok is as stalwart as ever.  He has elected to remain with us, and aid us in our quest to free Delem from the clutches of the demons that have enslaved his soul.  I am not surprised, of course; Lok has always been the rock that has served as an anchor for us, holding us together through the many storms that we have faced.  We all gladly contributed a share of the treasure that we brought back from the deepspawn’s lair to outfit him in new armor, and to commission a powerful battleaxe for his use.  Even though what we left behind could almost fill the room in which I am writing this (and Benzan, despite his comments at the time, has mourned the loss of that wealth on more than one occasion), what we did recover was sufficient for all of us to upgrade our gear and replace lost and depleted items.  Benzan invested most of his share in purchasing a magical bow, and Dana has bought some magical boots that greatly increase her speed.  I myself obtained a backpack similar to Lok’s old bag of holding, which should prove very useful in our future journeys.  I also took the time to scribe some new scrolls, and have mastered a few new enchantments with the patient help of Alera.  The last few days, I have felt a lingering sense of anticipation that I cannot fully shake.  Something is in the air, like a storm that one can’t yet see in the sky, but can feel coming.  Maybe Alera is right, I need to get out of this house, leave the laboratory where I have passed so much time this last month, and get out into the city.  Perhaps my avoiding the company of other people and throwing myself into my magical researches was a misguided effort to avoid confronting the thoughts that I haven’t wanted to think, feelings that I didn’t want to feel. As I write this, the sun is setting outside, just visible over the roofs of the houses as it sinks down into the water.  It is always an ending, of sorts, a departure of one day spent.  But while I will end this entry with that thought, there’s still a lot of story left to be written.  Tomorrow, after all, is a new day.</blockquote>

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